You know you are a "reuse everything" person when....

My hubby gets his medicine scripts mailed in plastic bags that are silver color inside, looks like mylar.  I cut holes in them and turn them inside out to use as grow bags because sadly he gets so many of them! My Herb garden was beautiful, everything came up & kinda cool since the pots were medicine bags!

and plastic totes! I lived in the country, in a less than  tight mobile home, so we always had mice, even with 7 cats around. So, I packed seasonal clothes, material, books, important papers, etc, in plastic totes. And I used plastic totes when we moved from Missouri to Texas, and yes, I used towels and t-shirts to pack the breakables. It worked! and I am now in the process of looking into using food grade buckets as part of my gardening set up.

You find yourself wondering what uses there might be for an empty 5LB plastic ('resealable') bag of pierogies.

Paul Sofranko wrote:You find yourself wondering what uses there might be for an empty 5LB plastic ('resealable') bag of pierogies.

Those big bags will keep anything dry. I use bags like that in the car for medical kits, jackets, etc.

You look that the blackened greasy crud at the bottom of your gas BBQ grill and think: Hey, if I mix this with shredded cardboard it'll be a great firestarter when making char!

Kim Huse wrote:and plastic totes! I lived in the country, in a less than  tight mobile home, so we always had mice, even with 7 cats around. So, I packed seasonal clothes, material, books, important papers, etc, in plastic totes. And I used plastic totes when we moved from Missouri to Texas, and yes, I used towels and t-shirts to pack the breakables. It worked! and I am now in the process of looking into using food grade buckets as part of my gardening set up.

Food Grade plastic totes or buckets for gardening is a bit of overkill and expensive!
Consider buying 5 gal buckets at any big box store and make sure you walk out with the lids.
Tally up your savings when you get home.    

I use these quite often - along with my cat litter buckets - for solid fertilizers, liquid fertilizer mixes, hauling sand and soil, watering plants and trees, etc.
Most of the buckets hold up for a couple of years and then the cat litter buckets become brittle and deteriorate. Overall though they work well.

Food Grade buckets I use for food only in my prepping for THEOTWASWEKI.
All of the other prepping stuff like lights, utensils, batteries, lanterns, etc. get the big box store 5 Gal. buckets for storage.

Paul Sofranko wrote:You know you are a "reuse everything" person when.... after you found out that popsicle sticks make great plant labels you save enough to build a tiny house.

Popsicles, skewers, tall matches, even chopsticks.

"The only organic thing to go to the dump is chicken feathers from butchering and bones that have been boiled to get the stock out of them."

We accumulate food waste that the worms don't eat or are inappropriate for composting like poultry and fish bones, trapped rodents, butchering scraps like skins, entrails, feathers and heads in bags kept in the freezer. Every three months or so when they become enough to fill a large pressure canner we add a quart or two of water and process them at 15-20 pounds steam pressure for a half hour. After cooling we use a meat grinder to reduce it all to "dog food" but also appropriate for chickens. The seven or eight quart yoghurt containers the output fills looks and smells just like some typical canned dog food. Our dog likes cleaning the equipment and the containers take up ever less room in the freezer as they are used one by one as topping on dry dog kibble. We used to include egg shells and shrimp casings but now dehydrate these, use a food processor to reduce these and add the powder to the worm bins.

This was the best read I could have to start my day. This is me, and I know that eye glimmer so well. 🙏🏼 You are not alone! Haha

When I moved I didn't throw anything away. Do I fit in???

This is the 1st time I've ever posted on here; I just had to tell you your anecdote was so amusing! My husband is the same way. To reusing!

I love to use things for purposes other than intended.
I have a PT job delivering auto parts. Arriving at work one day, I backed my car into a spot next to a cardboard only recycling bin. Peeking inside, I see at least 20 2' long cardboard tubes. Think paper towel tube on massive steroids. Easily 1/4" thick walls. As I'm shoving them in my backseat, I'm thinking "Yeah, a use for these will come up someday." Until that day, they rolled around in my trunk because the hubs gets twitchy when I bring stuff like that home.

So far, two uses:
I cut them in half, stuffed the bottom of one of the halves with newspaper and lightly taped it so it wouldn't fall out. Then I stuffed it with  some soil and put in some really long elderberry cuttings that I had. I figure that in about a month, I'm going to have an elderberry fit for a 3 gallon pot.

The other use was when I was making croquembouche. I needed to put my piping bag into something to hold it upright so I can fill it with either choux or creme pat. ENTER THE TUBES! I cut one to about 2" shorter than my piping bag, stuck it in, folded the bag over the tube and it was brilliant!

More uses away and I have a standing order to gather those tubes from the shop that uses the paper that comes rolled on them.

I use these quite often - along with my cat litter buckets - for solid fertilizers, liquid fertilizer mixes, hauling sand and soil, watering plants and trees, etc.
Most of the buckets hold up for a couple of years and then the cat litter buckets become brittle and deteriorate. Overall though they work well.

Food Grade buckets I use for food only in my prepping for THEOTWASWEKI.
All of the other prepping stuff like lights, utensils, batteries, lanterns, etc. get the big box store 5 Gal. buckets for storage.

I used cat litter buckets for the poop patrol around the yard. I drill  holes in the bottom so when it rains, it drains out instead of filling up with poop soup.
Now I use a different cat little that comes in hardcore cardboard. I've cut the tops off those, zip tied them together (drilling holes) and made a cubby thingy for my yarn. I suppose I could get fancy and cover it with fun paper or something but honestly, I don't really care.

When we get shipments in for the biz, I used the cardboard in the compost piles, removing the tape first. I use the cardboard to kill the grass and then plant over it. (So it would be cardboard-newspaper-straw-mulch-leaves and that usually kills the grass.)

I just took apart a crappy dresser for the drawers. Some container gardening. They won't last the year but still.
We use milk jugs as mini-greenhouses to start seeds.

The list goes on.

Used dryer sheets. They keep mice and other rodents from climbing in the foam filled seats you have in the various vehicles in the garage and other places, nibbling on your electrics... [still, add a few traps to catch them]

The hard covers of books make a nice clipboard for notepaper (already used on one side, of course). Just add a strong binder clip to the top.

Take the plastic tube that drink flavors come in and reuse them for:

* holding spices.
* storing bolts and screws
* art supplies
* cut down as paint cups for the kids

All sorts of uses.

Larry Pobiak wrote:....one of my mini-blinds bit the dust, so.....;

5. Great garden plant labels.  I use a carpenters pencil to write on them.  The writing will not fade at all!  Even years later they are just as clear as the day I made them.  

I do the same thing with Venetian blinds. I used to use those damaged in rentals but now use a different brand in those. I broke down and actually purchased a really cheap blind for around $5 and cut it up in 3 equal lengths. Some of those I will cut again and punch holes through to hang labels onto my tomato cages.

But, I make labels using my computer and add plant dates and expected harvest dates on the labels in large fonts. I then tape those to the blind sections and they are very readable. IF taped correctly they will last a couple of years easily. IF long rows I'll put a label at both ends.

This is a great thread y’all!
I save all bottle caps & poke holes on ones that don’t have a flip top, then string them up to create a whimsical snake & tie it on a long bamboo pole for the garden. The wind moves it around & birds leave my newly planted seeds alone.
I save plastic bottles & put any small pieces of plastic, foil, etc in it... Things that otherwise would go to landfill.  I’m amazed how much will cram into a bottle. It’s pretty much got me with zero trash now. When I get enough tightly stuffed I’ll use them as building blocks for a wall.
My favorite reuse project was cutting shingles from scrap pieces of metal roofing & making a big turret over my compost toliet.

Jesse Glessner wrote:

I do the same thing with Venetian blinds. I used to use those damaged in rentals but now use a different brand in those. I broke down and actually purchased a really cheap blind for around $5 and cut it up in 3 equal lengths. Some of those I will cut again and punch holes through to hang labels onto my tomato cages.

But, I make labels using my computer and add plant dates and expected harvest dates on the labels in large fonts. I then tape those to the blind sections and they are very readable. IF taped correctly they will last a couple of years easily. IF long rows I'll put a label at both ends.

I would love to know how you are doing it so that it lasts a couple of years. Here in Melbourne the sun seems to somehow be more intense and my labels even written in sharpie marker fade within a few months, those I have tried taping have all come loose. I am getting desperate because I have never had any issues keeping things well labeled before....

Also, to add to the thread some things I do though some were previously listed:

1. Reuse vitamin/medicine bottles to store seeds, nuts/screws, anything small. It all gets neatly labeled of course.
2. Reuse any decent glass jar I can find as vases to propagate cuttings, as mini terrariums, or to store produce, like fermented tomatoes/cabbage/onions/daikon/etc. also great for herb oils.
3. Use any extra lemon peels to steep in vinegar and make the best and cheapest household cleaners possible.
4. All weeds or plant scraps (I am in the city and am not allowed a compost pile...) that don't go to the worm bin, gets turned into fermented plant fertilizer!
5. T-shirts/clothes that require retiring often wind up as bags or aprons (sometimes if I score a particularly nice deal on clothes that do not fit but have a nice pattern and are part of a lot at the garage sales, they get turned into bags/aprons as gifts!)
6. Junk mail gets turned into seed envelopes for gifting or funny wrapping paper.
7. I keep separate baggies for bread clips, twist ties, and previously used bags are sorted and neatly stored for reuse.
8. Being on a main road in Melbourne where over 70k cars pass by every day I accumulate a lot of "trash" people throw on the curb. I have taken a surprisingly large amount of it and turned it into suitable plant pots for my ornamental flowers.
9. Even tiny scraps of wood find use as native bee houses, bird houses, or shims to level things out.
10. Every plastic bottle type thing I can get my hands on gets turned into a wicking pot and seedlings get started/cuttings and many get shared and being in such a small lot, I find I cannot direct seed nearly as much as I would like (the birds eat all my seeds anyhow....) and so this has really helped a lot, and they get reused, and reused, and reused again. =D And with the reservoir at the bottom, if I cannot water for a few days they are just fine.

Keep up with sharing the ideas!!! So many great ones. You guys are an inspiration!

I have a kazoo on my desk right now that I made from scraps of wood.
It is oak & maple.
I have some scraps of mahogany from replacing some trim.  I'm planning on making more kazoos from that.

Aimee Hall wrote:

Jesse Glessner wrote:

I do the same thing with Venetian blinds. I used to use those damaged in rentals but now use a different brand in those. I broke down and actually purchased a really cheap blind for around $5 and cut it up in 3 equal lengths. Some of those I will cut again and punch holes through to hang labels onto my tomato cages.

But, I make labels using my computer and add plant dates and expected harvest dates on the labels in large fonts. I then tape those to the blind sections and they are very readable. IF taped correctly they will last a couple of years easily. IF long rows I'll put a label at both ends.

I would love to know how you are doing it so that it lasts a couple of years. Here in Melbourne the sun seems to somehow be more intense and my labels even written in sharpie marker fade within a few months, those I have tried taping have all come loose. I am getting desperate because I have never had any issues keeping things well labeled before....

HELLO AIMEE:  I meant, but did not state, that the STAKES would last at least a couple of seasons. IF I don't mow them off or chop them to pieces with the hoe I grab them up and stash them in a basket for use the next year. I do have some really old ones in that basket. The next year I don't bother to peel the labels unless it is really ragged. I just apply a new label that covers the prior year's efforts.

I usually leave the label 1" from what will be the top of the ID stake. IF I want it to last I try to tape it so no moisture can get to the label. That takes 1 layer of clear tape on the front side, one layer on the backside, and a generous piece overlapping the top by about 3/4" on both sides of the stake. [See the photo] Make sure and press the tape down firmly to keep moisture out.

IF you don't need the dates then use a much larger text size. Just print out some text and cut it out to see how it would look on the stake. The larger it is the easier it is to read without bending over to see it.

Thank you! I will try that. No matter what I have done here lately the labels get destroyed in a few months. I keep decent written records too but it can be difficult to remember which varieties of lettuce one was testing and the like. -_- I am actually in the process of making 3D printed labels for my perennials here to help others know how to make use of them, what they are, etc.

Last year I cut aluminum cans in the shape of the veggies and painted them.  I attached it with wire to some wood stakes. I painted the wood thinking it would protect it. Then I wrote the name of the veggie.  This was a great success, and a total fail.  They looked so cute. The aluminum part of the project worked great. The paint didn't fade or chip off.  The wood didn't even last one season.   I need to figure out something to attach the top to that is cheap, and isn't going to contaminate my veggies.  
For the seeds I started I cut one of the plastic cups I plant in, and wrote on it with a permanent marker.  I can't read it at all.  So much for being permanent.  I will have to try the blind and tape trick.
It's a bummer. Usually when I share my extras I give a paper with the name and all the growing info. This year all I can do is tomato, or zucchini.  It also makes it hard to decide what to get next year.  Oh well it's a mystery.

"...wood didn't even last one season.   I need to figure out something to attach the top to that is cheap, and isn't going to contaminate my veggies."

The comment referenced making veggie shaped cutouts from aluminum cans, but the wooden stakes had failed and sought alternatives. May I suggest:

Coat hangers, metal or plastic, cut up? Reused plastic straws? Old pipe/metal tubing cut up into stakes? Old cutlery? Kitchen or workshop tools that had metal or plastic handles - old screwdrivers might be ideal...

Family recently got take-out from a local restaurant, and the food came in these little plastic rectangular containers...it's really lightweight, plastic #5, which is considered a "safe" kind of polypropylene and is supposedly remade into a number of different items after recycled. I may be being a little cynical here, but I highly doubt a lot of people will be recycling these things, and I'm not sure if there's widespread acceptance of plastic #5 by recycling services now that China no longer takes our recyclables.

You can supposedly reuse these for up to six months for food storage, and they're microwave-safe [don't know if I believe this either because that "factual" info was provided by the industry, who also claims that plastics aren't a big waste problem and that "paper and paperboard account for 34.2% of our landfills ; Plastic 11.8%.(EPA, 2005)"--I'd like to see international statistics for that].

I've been using them for mini-germinating containers for perennial flowers. They work really well.

Question for the "reuse everything" experts. I have some pans that have been sitting around for years. The "non-stick" aspect has long since passed on. They are shredded, trashed, have been used extensively with metal utensils (which is the reason we now use cast iron exclusively) so probably not good for the thrift store. That's where most of my "still good enough" junk goes.

I've held onto them because I don't want to throw them away, but I have no use for them. Any ideas? And even if I can't use your ideas I'm sure someone can, so don't hold back.

Aimee Hall wrote:
I would love to know how you are doing it so that it lasts a couple of years. Here in Melbourne the sun seems to somehow be more intense and my labels even written in sharpie marker fade within a few months, those I have tried taping have all come loose. I am getting desperate because I have never had any issues keeping things well labeled before....

I use old metal canning lids for plant labels. Try your sharpie on both sides and see if that works for you.

I've held onto them because I don't want to throw them away, but I have no use for them. Any ideas? And even if I can't use your ideas I'm sure someone can, so don't hold back.


I have 2 skillets that  took the handles off of, and am planning on using those to start plants in my home made metal shelf, indoor greenhouse.

Lauren,

I'd probably stick them somewhere in the back of a group of flower pots and use them as saucers which won't break? You wouldn't want to use them for veggies because of the plastic, but under daisies or roses or something near a door on a patio, with the handles up against the building, they'd make fine saucers.

Lauren Ritz wrote:

I have some pans that have been sitting around for years.

I like the plant saucer idea, because the commercial version are often plastic that gets brittle, however I would remove the handles even if you have to grind them off.

Any idea of the base material they're made of? If it's aluminum, it's valuable to people who do back-yard smelting. Since many parts are soooo... hard to get for older machinery, we may see an upsurge of that sort of thing. If it's stainless, it might also be useful as a lid on things that would benefit. For example, sometimes I use clay pots as "fake it olla pots". I'm always looking for different sized pots, plates, lids that happen to fit whichever salvaged clay pot I happen to have found.

We get so much rain, we're often looking for things like that which can go upside down over things that need water to be kept out of - or critters looking for a dry home.

I have wanted to do this FOREVER, but couldn't decide what to use for the signs...

See the fate of unused pans!

I'll do some additional painting and decorating, but this is the basic idea. They'll go along the front stairs, under the grape vines.

Lauren, those are brilliant. I have some old teflon pans that I retired from use years ago when they got scratched, occasionally I use them for livestock feeding when I run short of feeders but if they're not safe for human use I'm not keen on feeding critters with them even if only now and then. And yet I hate to throw them out as I felt there should be something useful to do with them. But now I realize they would make excellent sign substrates... I have a plan to paint them up and hang them in interesting places!

Aimee Hall wrote:
5. T-shirts/clothes that require retiring often wind up as bags or aprons (sometimes if I score a particularly nice deal on clothes that do not fit but have a nice pattern and are part of a lot at the garage sales, they get turned into bags/aprons as gifts!)

This is what I do with old T-shirts, sweatshirts and sweatpants: